www.recordnet.com

Club's name stirs anger
Some say Delta College group's title is insulting

Yasmin Assemi
Record Staff Writer
Published Monday, Oct 31, 2005

STOCKTON -- Some students and staff at San Joaquin Delta College are questioning the name of a new club on campus.

Caudillos Fuerza Unida, which translates roughly to "Leaders Unified in Strength," was formed in May. The definition of caudillo is "a Spanish or Latin-American military dictator," according to Webster's New World College Dictionary.

The term has infuriated members of another Latino group on campus. Members call the word inappropriate and insulting because of the word's historical link to some of Latin America's most brutal military dictators.

"It's absolutely unacceptable for a student group to call themselves caudillos," said Daniela Montejano, president of the MEChA club, which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan. "Caudillos are known for tyranny."

"If the club's name was in English or there was a Nazi club on campus, people would be outraged," Montejano said. "We found it shameful and unacceptable."

The college president and other Latino groups on campus, however, support the new organization, which advocates Spanish speakers' rights and raises funds for student scholarships, said Joel Reyna, adviser to Caudillos Fuerza Unida.

"It's how you define the word," said Reyna, who founded the 25-member club in May. To him, it simply means "leader," he said.

An e-mail dated Oct. 24 sent campuswide by Delta art instructor Mario Moreno accused Reyna of using federal grant money allocated to the college's high school equivalency program, which Reyna coordinates, for club purposes.

Reyna denies the accusations.

"Caudillos stands on its own fundraising," he said.

Delta College President Raul Rodriguez also defended Caudillos Fuerza Unida.

"There hasn't been any hanky-panky with the money," he said Thursday after investigating accusations of misappropriations of grant funds.

MEChA leaders have refused to meet with members of Caudillos Fuerza Unida leaders to discuss the club's name. Fliers for last month's Caudillos Fuerza Unida's Mexican Independence Day celebration were found stapled to text containing a photo of dictators Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.

The real issue at stake is not the club's name, but power politics, Reyna said.

MEChA members denied that allegation.

"It's not the club, per se," MEChA member Motecuzoma Sanchez said. "It's the term they're choosing to call themselves. Führer means leader, too. The German term Führer translates to leader in English. It is widely associated with Hitler's rule.

"As a student and somebody of Mexican descent, I am offended that somebody would throw that name out there," Sanchez said, adding that people outside the Latino community may not be aware of the issue because of the language barrier or a lack understanding of the word's roots.

Leaders of other campus Latino clubs haven't publicly opposed the new organization's name because of quibbles those clubs have recently had with MEChA, Sanchez said.

The college has no plans to get involved unless there are real hate issues that occurred on campus, Rodriguez said, adding that "the students need to work the issue out themselves."

Reyna said he just wants the political infighting and mudslinging between Latino organizations to stop.


"We're just asking to be given a chance," Reyna said.